The Beginning
by abysswriter
Summary: Kushina had been keeping a pretty important secret for as long as she could before Minato began to notice her unusual behavior. Concerned, he pressures her to tell him what's happened. Kushina loses her temper and is comforted by her loving husband.


Lying on her side, Kushina shifted her body, pulling the covers up over her chest. She sighed, frustrated, and could see the huge moon out the window. She could feel the reassuring weight of Minato's limp arm around her waist, but for once, his presence alone wasn't enough to put her to sleep. She wondered how much longer it would be until she had to tell someone. She ran her hand over her flat stomach pensively before being startled by his deep, tired voice in her ear. "What's the matter?" She quickly removed her hand from her stomach and found his hand, intertwining their fingers. "Nothing. Nothing is the matter. Sorry to wake you, I'm having a hard time falling asleep, that's all," she whispered, closing her eyes and waiting to hear his even breathing again. Instead, he removed his hand from hers and wrapped his arm around her waist, minimizing the distance between their bodies. In a voice full of concern, he pleaded, "I hope you'll tell me what's making you upset soon." She breathed in, blushing, and turned, facing him. "What're you talking about?" she laughed quietly, looking into his tired blue eyes to assure him she was being honest. The blonde only returned her gaze with a look of discontent. "I know how good you are at that. Pretending to be okay. Please go to sleep for now…" he pulled her in closer and kissed the top of her head, "and tell me tomorrow." She closed her eyes, feeling overcome by his persuasive charm.

The next day, he found her sitting on the ledge outside of the Hokage's headquarters, regarding the village happily and swinging her legs. For a moment, he leaned against the door frame and watched her, taken aback by how beautiful her red hair looked against the deep blue sky. She closed her eyes and breathed in the fresh air, looking deep in thought. After a moment she looked down at her hand, which was resting on the wooden ledge. Suddenly realizing Minato was there, she spun her head around, her face full of surprise. "What the hell?" she half-yelled, half-laughed. "I could have fallen off, you know!" He smiled and approached her, offering a hand to help her off the ledge. "Come on," he said, "you would never have fallen—if I had really scared you, you would have thrown _me_ off." She laughed her light, charming laugh and took his hand, her feet hitting the ground with a soft thud. As she headed inside, he took her hand and stayed still. Kushina looked back. "What are you waiting for?" she asked, grinning. He couldn't help but smile back at the woman with whom he was so irretrievably in love. He pulled her closer and put his hands on her shoulders. She frowned at him, waiting eagerly for an explanation. "Kushina…" he began, looking genuinely troubled. "I had hoped that you trusted me enough to tell me if something were the matter… But I see that this is clearly something you don't want to share. With anyone. Everyone's noticed you're being kind of unusual lately, I…" he stuttered, looking embarrassed. "I can't bear seeing you like this." She raised her eyebrows, surprised at the urgency of her husband's concern. She smiled sadly and tiptoed to wrap her arms around his shoulders, kissing his cheek tenderly. "Oh, Minato," she whispered, her voice uneven. "I'm so sorry. You need to know."

She had sat him down in their home and poured him a cup of steaming tea while she paced around the room. He anxiously awaited her admission, tapping his finger on the table nervously. She walked to the opposite side of the table and wheeled around dramatically, pounding her hands on the table and causing his teacup to shake. "Okay! Okay," she began, looking determinedly into his eyes. "So basically it's a kid." Looking beyond astounded, Minato picked up his cup and took a sip, never breaking eye contact with his jittery wife. "A kid?" he asked, oblivious. "Augh!" she yelled, taking a seat at the table opposite him. "Yeah, a kid! And it's YOURS!" she said, gesturing towards her torso, her face the color of a tomato. He sat across from her, waiting several seconds for any comprehension on his part to kick in. Suddenly, he stood up and sat down again adjacent to Kushina, whose stress had amounted to immense embarrassment. Smiling, he put his hand on her knee. "You mean to tell me…" he said quietly, his happiness insurmountable, "you're pregnant?" She turned her head and stared at him, her eyes full of confusion. "And you're sitting here, grinning like an idiot?" she yelped, her face turning even redder with anger. "I mean, what the hell!" she stood up and began to pace again. "Don't you realize what this means? This is dangerous for everyone, Minato! You're the Hokage! Shouldn't you be the one worrying yourself sick about this? What if the kyuubi gets out? What if it hurts someone?" she asked, her fearsome anger climaxing and her eyes filling with tears. Her gaze fell back onto her husband, though, who was sitting as peacefully and grinning as gleefully as he had been before she had stood up. "Kushina…" his face was bright and filled with joy. He stood up and took several steps towards her. "Kushina, you're…" he started, before being interrupted by his own laughter. He put his hands on her cheeks and kissed her, his smile never disappearing from his face. Breaking the kiss gently and looking into her eyes, he whispered, "First of all, there's no way you're the first host to have a child. There are ways to deal with the risk, I'm positive. You're focusing so much on the worst-case scenario." He kissed her again as anger clearly subsided. "Kushina, we're going to be parents!" She felt her burst of anger settle upon seeing her husband's reaction. The tears that had formed from her anger flowed down her cheeks, but she was smiling now. "I-I almost forgot about that part," she laughed, sobbing quietly into his chest as he enveloped her in an adoring embrace.


End file.
